Ricciardo ready to push

Daniel Ricciardo insists that he will not play the dutiful number two at RedBull (1/16 – Constructors’ Championship) and is keen to push himself to the limit in order to claim a world title.

Ricciardo was announced as the replacement for Mark Webber late on Monday evening, bringing an end to months of speculation.

The Australian was preferred over experienced duo Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso (10/1 – Drivers’ Championship) who had also been linked with a move to the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Despite being relatively new on the circuit, the 24-year-old is adamant that he has been handed a contract to try and help drive the team forward.

Ricciardo said: “Obviously, I would love to be as competitive as I can as quickly as possible.

“I’ll obviously finish the [2013] season as strongly as possible with Toro Rosso but, as soon as it’s finished, I’ll switch my focus to 2014, try and put in a really good off-season, at least do as much as I can to prepare myself to be there for the first race.

“I know it’s obviously not going to be as easy as it seems, but the best thing I can do is push myself as much as I can. I have one of the best team-mates in the world now to measure myself against, so [I’ll] push myself as hard as I can.”